Couldn't Be Selfless
by Werepuppy Black
Summary: Theoretically post-canon work. They always knew she would be the first one of them to leave, but thst doesn't mean he wanted it to be true.


He doesn't want her to leave.

The thought hits like a punch in the stomach and he's been through that too many times to know how it can cripple a person if they let it. It sticks however many times he tries to ignore and he can't just shrug it off like he would want to and _damn it_ this wasn't meant to happen. But he doesn't want her to leave. He knows she will, he knows he can't stop her, but he doesn't want her to go.

It was never going to be permanent; her being on the crew. Actually, out of all of them, she was the only one who came on with the intent of leaving when she did what she had to do. It just never really occurred to any of them that they'd actually manage it, not as quickly as they did. (Gai assures them that this is normal for a sentai team; that the awesome of teamwork means hard challenges are faced super quick but it doesn't reassure and Joe is damn close to smacking the younger member in the face when Luka does it for him.) But it was done, and they were celebrating and she had to go and ruin it all by being a damn Princess, and having morals, and actually feeling the need to rule her people.

"They're looking to me, I can't abandon them. I will miss you all," she had said, before dismissing herself. Party atmosphere really died after that. No one really brought it up after that, not around him, though Don was seen helping Ahim gather everything she needed to leave the Galleon, as well as giving a hundred and one reminders about how to best wash her clothes, and what type of meals she should prepare for herself, and was she sure she didn't want him to freeze some things for her? He'll probably leave not long after she does, Marvelous realises.

He doesn't want her to go. She'll leave, and everything will change and he hates change. Always has. She has to stay because the crew doesn't work without her, it pisses him off that she can't realise this. She needs to stay because then everything will stay the same and … She just needs to stay. But he can't order her not to leave.

The night before she's due to leave, he parks the Galleon and enters a bar so filthy, Don would faint on getting in a five feet radius of it. He gets rip roaring drunk off of whiskey that would blind anyone else but then he's always had a stronger stomach than most. He starts a fight with an ugly looking alien working for the SPD on the behalf of some Shadow organisation or something – he's never really paid any attention to politics and the clenching in his stomach at its mention tonight is not making him slow down on the drink.

The fight is nothing really, the infamy of the band of pirates being the ones to stop the Zangyack Empire in its tracks means that no one really wants to take him on one-on-one any more, but he's nothing if not good at provoking people with his god-damn attitude. By the time Joe and Luka show up to drag him out of the fight and scream at his stupidity respectively, he's got a cut on his forehead, his lip is burst, he's fairly certain his nose is close to being broken, and he's laughing so much that it almost sounds like the laughs are being choked in his throat.

He's dragged back to the Galleon and placed in his quarters. There's flashes of pink and white, as his cut is cleaned and the wound on his lip is dabbed at gingerly. His eyesight is swimming, and he can't make it out, but the colours eclipse his view, and there's a sense of calm that comes with them. She sits with him, at the end of his bed, watching quietly. It's always quiet around her, he's never really paid attention to it before.

"I did not lie," she says softly. "I will miss you all." He doesn't respond, and she looks down, hands grapsing against the skirts of her dress. "But... thank you, for all the kindness. I would not have made it this far, and I owe you..." her voice trails off as he lets out a grunt.

"You would have," is the simple reply he gives. "It's what's brilliant about you." She stands suddenly, offering a soft smile and he stretches his arm out, trying to grab her wrist but doesn't make it. She's outside his reach now. Has been for a long while. They all have.

She's still going to leave.

He's not going to stop her.

The day comes faster than any of them would like and it's tearful and Luka and Ahim cling to each other because they've always been the closest and it's like loosing a family member even with the constant promises to stay in touch, and Ahim promising that she'll look into making Luka's dream come true. Don's goodbye is that of a brother's, though he's ever the protective parent, forcing a small package of pre-prepared meals on her, just in case. Gai says its not forever, a sentai team always finds their way back to each other, and right now Marvelous is this close to ditching him on some barren planet, as he has a hangover and the high pitch of his voice isn't helping.

Joe's goodbye is quiet and solemn and there's that other blow to the stomach realisation that he might not be the only one feeling this utter pissing annoying feeling of not wanting her to go. The others even moved back to give them privacy – Luka pulls him by the collar of his coat - and he starts to wonder what the hell he's been missing for the sake of keeping the crew as they were, without change. He thought they didn't just bring it up around him, but Luka's hurried whispered mutters let him know how badly Joe's been taking this.

Pink and Blue stand and he can't hear them, but he knows what will be being said, even without intruding. After all, Joe's always been the better man of the two of them, he's not the selfish one. He wonders if he could do that one day; be the selfless one. He doubts it.

"Goodbye, Marvelous-san."

"Yeah."

There's the sound of wind, and a pause, before she gives out a tight but soft smile. She turns, and her wrist is grabbed. It's a gentle grab,but still a grab, and she turns backs to face him with look of confusion. Marvelous' face is serious, and the wind blows at his hair.

"Don't leave."

He should have figured he couldn't be selfless.


End file.
